Hồ Chí Minh City

History


Ho Chi Minh City is the most populous city, is also the center of economy, culture, education and the importance of Vietnam.
This area was originally known as Prey Nokor, then formed by the city to explore the south of the Nguyen Dynasty. In 1698, Nguyen Huu Canh to establish Gia Dinh, marking the birth of the city. When the French in Indo-China, to serve the colonial mining city of Saigon was established and fast growing, becoming one of the most important urban centers of Vietnam, was dubbed the Pearl of the Far East or Paris of the East. Saigon was the capital of the Indochinese Federation 1887-1901 period. In 1954, Saigon became the capital of the Republic of Vietnam and this magnificent city became one of the important cities of Southeast Asia. Fall of South Vietnam in 1975, Vietnam's territory completely agree. July 2, 1976, the National Assembly of reunified Vietnam decided to change the name of Saigon "Ho Chi Minh", after the first President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Location

Located in the transition zone between the South East and South West, today's Ho Chi Minh City consists of 19 districts and 5, the total area of ​​2095.06 km ². According to the official census results at 0 am April 1, 2009, the city's population is 7,162,864 people (8.34% of the Vietnamese population), the average density of 3419 people / km ² . As of 1/4/2010, according to the General Statistics Office, the population of the city rose to 7,382,287 people. However if the residents do not register, the actual population of the city of over 10 million people. Play an important role in the economy of Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City accounted for 21.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 29.38% of the total revenue of the country. Thanks to favorable natural conditions, Ho Chi Minh City became an important traffic hub of Vietnam and Southeast Asia, including road, rail, water and air. In 2007, the city received about 3 million international tourists, 70 percent of visitors to Vietnam. The fields of education, media, sports, entertainment, Ho Chi Minh City are the most important role.
However, Ho Chi Minh City are faced with the problems of a large urban population up too fast. In the inner city, the roads become overloaded, often jams. Public transport system less efficient. City environment are contaminated by the transport, construction and industrial production.

Geological, hydrological


Geology of Ho Chi Minh City includes mainly two general Pleistocene and Holocene sediments exposed on the surface. Pleistocene sediments occupy most of the north, northwest and northeast of the city. Under the influence of natural factors and human activities, ancient alluvial sediments formed its own unique soil: soil. With more than 45 thousand hectares, or about 23.4% of the city area, the gray land in Ho Chi Minh City has three kinds of: high gray soil, ground floor patchy gray yellow red and more rarely gray gley soil. Holocene sediments in Ho Chi Minh City has many sources: the sea, bays, rivers and alluvial ... formation of several different soil types: alluvial soils with 15,100 hectares of sea, alkaline soils with 40,800 ha of saline and alkaline soils with 45,500 ha. There is also an area of ​​over 400 hectares of is "mounds" sand near the sea and yellow feralite land eroded bare rocks in the hilly region.
Hydrology, located in the lower Dong Nai river system - Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City has a network of rivers and canals is very diverse. Dong Nai River has its source in the Lam Vien Plateau, river confluence by many others, has a large basin, about 45,000 km ². With an average flow of 20-500 m³ / s, annual water supply 15 billion cubic meters, Dong Nai River to become the city's main source of fresh water. Saigon River originates from the Hon Quan, Thu Dau Mot flow through to Ho Chi Minh City, with a length of 200 km and runs along the territory of the city is 80 km long. Saigon River has an average flow of about 54 m³ / s, the width in the city about 225 m to 370 m, a depth of 20 m. Thanks Rach channel system, two Dong Nai and Sai Gon rivers connecting the urban extensions. Another river of Ho Chi Minh City is the Nha Be River, formed at the confluence of two Dong Nai and Saigon River, which flows into the South China Sea by two reclining Soai Rap and Ganh Rai. Which, reclining Ganh Rai is the main waterway for ships in the harbor of Saigon. In addition to the main river, Ho Chi Minh City also has a system of canals interlaced: Smooth The, Bau Agriculture, ditches Look, Ben Cat, An Summer, Join Luong, Cau Bong, Various Loc-Thi Nghe, Ben Nghe , Lo Gom canal, Te, Tau Hu canal, wait ... rivers, canals help Ho Chi Minh City in irrigation, but affected by the semi-diurnal tide oscillations of the South China Sea, tidal penetration depth caused adverse impacts to agricultural production and restrict drainage in urban areas.

Climate


Located in the tropical savanna, Ho Chi Minh City with high temperatures all year and two distinct dry season. The rainy season starts from May to November, and dry season from December to April next year. On average, Ho Chi Minh City with 160 to 270 hours of sunshine per month, average temperature 27 ° C, the highest up to 40 ° C, the lowest 13.8 ° C. Every year, the city has 330 days average temperature 25 to 28 ° C. The city's average rainfall of 1949 mm / year, which in 1908 reached the highest 2718 mm to 1392 mm in 1958 lowest. One year, the city has an average of 159 days of rain, most concentrated in the months from June 5 to 11, accounting for about 90%, special two month 6 and 9. On the spatial extent of the city, rainfall is unevenly distributed, tend to increase the axis WNW - ESE. The northern districts and districts with high rainfall than the rest.
Ho Chi Minh City is influenced by two monsoon wind direction is west-southwest and north-northeast. Wind southwest Indian Ocean, the average speed of 3.6 m / s, in the rainy season. Wind North-East from the South China Sea, the average speed of 2.4 m / s, in the dry season. There are also wind credits to the south-southeast around March to May, an average of 3.7 m / s. Ho Chi Minh City can say no storm zone. As well as rainfall, humidity in the city high up in the rainy season (80%), and low in the dry season (74.5%). Average humidity of 79.5% / year.



Enviroment


With the population growth rate is too fast, the infrastructure is not up overall upgrade plan, be aware some people are too poor in general environmental awareness and protection ... So, Ho Chi Minh City is now faced with the problem of environmental pollution is too large. Status of untreated wastewater discharged into river systems are very popular. Many manufacturing facilities, hospitals and medical facilities do not have waste water treatment system is an alarming situation . In industrial Join Luong, water contaminated by industrial waste with an estimated total water volume of 500,000 m³ / day. Saigon River, the level of microbial contamination mainly due to aquaculture activities beyond standard allows up to 220 times. Until 2008, there is no specific solution to stop this pollution.
The amount of waste in Ho Chi Minh City up to 6000 tons / day, in which a portion of the solid waste is not collected at all. The results of monitoring in 2007 showed that, compared to 2006, the organic pollutants increased 2 to 4 times. Transport, construction activities, production ... also contribute to air pollution. Suburban areas, land is also contaminated by the outstanding crop protection products from agricultural production caused .
Flooding in the city center is at high alert, which occurs during the dry season. The area flooded around 140 km2 with 85% of the wetlands located in the central area. Damage caused by flooding caused an estimated 8 billion per year. The reason is that the sewer system was built 50 years ago has been degraded. In addition, the construction of urban and industrial areas in the south - drainage area of ​​the city has made the situation more serious flooding as.
Before pressing on the status of the environment, Ho Chi Minh City is urgently looking for ways to improve the quality of life of people in the area. The extracted a large lot billion capital construction investment channel water biological renovated Ba Bo is an example.

Tourism

Ben Thanh Market

Of about 4.3 million international visitors to Vietnam in 2007, 3 million tourists visited Ho Chi Minh City, or about 70%. 2007 was also the year the city has been strong progress, the number of tourists increased by 12% compared to 2006, tourism revenue reached VND 19,500 billion, an increase of 20%. Is a young city with 300 years of history, but Ho Chi Minh City has built many buildings and owns a diverse culture.
Ho Chi Minh City now has 641 hotels with 17,646 rooms. Serve the high-end, the city has 11 five-star hotel, including: Caravelle, Sheraton, Moevenpick (old Omni), New World, Equatorial, Legend, Renaissance Riverside, Windsor Plaza, Sofitel Plaza, Park Hyatt, Majestic, with a total plus 3592. Most of these hotels by international groups such as Accor, Furama, Mariot, or Sheraton management and most concentrated in District 1. Besides, the city also eight 4-star hotels with 1,281 rooms, 20 3-star hotels with 1,621 rooms. Due to the development of tourism, number of luxury rooms in the city is severely lacking. Although many investors intend to build luxury hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, but they have difficulty in finding locations. As expected, by 2020, the city will have to add 10 thousand rooms 4 or 5 stars.
The tourist attraction of the city is relatively diverse. With 11 museums system, mainly on the subject of history, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam leader in the number of museums. Museum of the largest and oldest city is the Museum of Vietnamese History with 30 thousand objects. While most visitors War Remnants Museum is a foreigner, the museum attracts many domestic tourists, especially in Ho Chi Minh Museum. Ho Chi Minh City is an urban religious diversity. On the territory of the city now has more than a thousand temples and home shrines built over the period. But the church appears mainly in the 19th century by the Roman style, Gothic. Cathedral and the city's most famous Notre Dame Cathedral, is located in District 1, completed in 1880. Colonial period has left the city many important buildings, such as the City People's Committee office, the Opera House, the central Post Office, Ben Nha Rong ... Independence Palace and the General Sciences Library was built under the Republic of Vietnam. Mark modern architecture in the city with buildings, hotels, commercial centers such as Diamond Plaza, Saigon Trade Centre ... Outside the center area, the Cu Chi Tunnels, Can Gio mangrove forest, garden Duc is also an important tourist destination.
Ho Chi Minh City is a shopping and entertainment center. Besides the music tea rooms, bars, discos, theater, the city has many amusement parks as Park Dam Sen, Suoi Tien, zoo. Shopping malls, such as Ben Thanh Market, Diamond Plaza ... system of restaurants, cafes as well as a strong tourism of the city.